When tourists are planning a trip to Vietnam, those who can afford luxury usually book rooms in 5-star hotels. This is because they trust the level of security provided in these hotels among other things such as comfort and good food. However, it seems that these hotels are the most dangerous for tourists in Vietnam. This is evident in the series of crimes that foreign tourists have fallen victim to. To make it even worse, the poor services of the police make the situation much harder for the victims since there are few chances of a foreign tourist's complaint being taken seriously.
The rate of crime against foreign tourists in Vietnam has been increasing with each passing year. Looking at the statistics of the Nikko Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City gives evidence of this. Between January 2014 and July 2014, 9 cases of burglary were reported in the hotel and the victims were foreign tourists. In the previous year, 2013, the total number of such crime was 26 while in 2012, the number of cases were 15. The statistics were given by Nguyen Phat Viet who is a representative of the Nikko Hotel.
Most of these burglaries are well planned. It usually happens when one or more people check in to a hotel using fake documents. After they have booked a room, they wait for the foreign tourists to go out for a tour and then take that opportunity to rob them of all the valuables left in the rooms. This was reported by Nguyen Van Loi who is the captain of the municipal police department.
Apart from burglary in the hotels, street snatching has become one of the popular crimes against foreign tourists that have been reported by tourism companies. Since there are no parking lots that bus drivers can take advantage of, tourists are normally placed in danger by being dropped in unsafe areas. To ensure that tourists get a measure of safety, they are never dropped at the town center by the buses. Rather, they are dropped at the Notre Dam Cathedral and then they walk to the city center.
Although the burglary cases at hotel properties managed by expat have decreased, it is believed that the number of burglary cases is much higher than what was reported due to faults in reporting. One of the ways the police frustrate this process is by hindering the visitor from filing a report by postponing the appointment until the visitor gives up or the departure date reaches. One of the reasons for this is that some police officers believe that the tourists want to defraud their travel insurance company. Other things that discourage tourists from reporting include paperwork that is complicated as well as the lack of sufficient evidence.